Is history just like gossip? According to actress Ella Cruz, yes. But if you listened to your history classes in school, you should understand that history is NOT like gossip at all. And a slew of netizens and celebrities and historians are here to correct the young actress.

The controversial remark

Actress Ella Cruz spoke up about playing the role of Irene Marcos, the third child of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, in a controversial film ‘Maid in Malacañang’ showing on July 18.

READ: https://t.co/JNJwN7lk1u pic.twitter.com/xMclPoplC7

— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) July 2, 2022

In a Philippine Star interview published last July 2, Cruz was asked about any lessons she gained while filming Maid in Malacañang. In answering, she likened history to gossip, describing it as “filtered” and “bias[ed].”

“History is like tsismis. It is filtered and dagdag na rin, so hindi natin alam what is the real history. Naro’n na yung idea, pero may mga bias talaga. As long as we are here at may kaniya-kaniyang opinion, I respect everyone’s opinion,” the actress said, raising eyebrows everywhere.

Netizens clap back

After the controversial remark went viral, netizens couldn’t help but respond to Cruz with sarcastic comments and funny reaction posts. Many netizens have also edited infamous memes and pop culture references in response to Cruz’s remark.

Ella Cruz after learning that her AP class doesn’t mean araling pangchismisan pic.twitter.com/spyVWyNQAN

— Jai Cabajar (@jaicabajar) July 2, 2022

It’s not Araling Pang-chismisan?!?

Ella Cruz’s History teacher be like for the #93th time pic.twitter.com/GEuBopbCf5

— (@glen_vincent) July 2, 2022

Perhaps she doesn’t know the meaning of AP and history because she was sleeping during class…?

Ella Cruz and her OPEN THE SCHOOLS moment. pic.twitter.com/ZJPmMHNnje

— Eru Zies (@eru_zies) July 2, 2022

This pandemic really is messing with all of us.

Other notable names call her out

It’s not only regular netizens who found Cruz’s remark controversial, but her fellow celebs as well. Using their platforms with their own wide reaches, several notable names called out the young actress for likening history to gossip. Former volleyball player and current news anchor Gretchen Ho kept her explanation simple and understandable.

* History’s narrative, while subject to the perspective of the author, must be written based on facts, and not opinion.

— Gretchen Ho (@gretchenho) July 2, 2022

TV host Richard Juan even got a witty reference to the “93th” birthday greeting for Imelda Marcos, which Kingmaker director Lauren Greenfield called out for copyright infringement.

For the 93th time, history is not tsismis!

— 范鴻志 RICHARD JUAN 홍지 (@richardjuan) July 2, 2022

Content creator AC Soriano (ItsACsLife on social media) also called their friend out. In a tweet accompanying a video of Cruz wrongly giving information to her viewers before AC and friends corrected her, AC jokingly tells her to just let them know if she needs “more corrections”. It seems like Cruz has an unfortunate history of sharing wrong information.

NOT THIS ILY SIS IF YOU NEED MORE CORRECTIONS LET ME KNOW https://t.co/wnhTAVmWQw

— AC (@ItsACsLife) July 2, 2022

Historians and educators correct her

Unsurprisingly, Cruz’s controversial remark also caught the attention of Filipino historians.

Public historian Ambeth R. Ocampo told Cruz not to confuse history and gossip. “History may have bias but it is based on fact not opinion. Real history is about truth, not lies, not fiction.”

‘DON’T CONFUSE HISTORY AND CHISMIS.’

Public historian Ambeth R. Ocampo decries actress Ella Cruz’s controversial comment that history is like tsismis yesterday, July 2.

RELATED STORY: https://t.co/Vg8LMqgDAi pic.twitter.com/YpuLYmRBHD

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) July 3, 2022

Historian Alvin D. Campomanes asked a simple, rhetorical question to his followers: “If there are bachelor of arts, master of arts, and doctor of philosophy degrees in history, then those degrees probably don’t just talk about gossip all day, right?” He also reshared a 2016 post, quipping that these very degree programs should just be abolished when there’s an increase of fake news and unreliable resources due to Facebook and other social media platforms.

Meanwhile, historian Xiao Chua received a deluge of requests from his followers to comment on the matter, to which he only has to say: “Hindi ko siya kilala. Hindi siya mahalaga. Waste of time.”

Sino ba itong pinapakomentuhan ninyo sa akin? Hindi ko siya kilala. Hindi siya mahalaga. Waste of time.

— Xiao Chua (@Xiao_Chua) July 2, 2022

Nevertheless, Chua is set to appear in Christian Esguerra’s Facts First on July 4 to set the record straight.

“History is like chismis,” sabi ni Ella Cruz.

Itutuwid natin ang mga baluktok na pagtingin sa pag-aaral ng history lalo’t laganap ang mga maling impormasyon at conspiracy theories online.

Watch our #FactsFirst ep on Monday, July 4, with @Xiao_Chua : https://t.co/h94S7k8l25 pic.twitter.com/fD7HFwY5EA

— Christian Esguerra (@IanEsguerra) July 2, 2022

Ella Cruz and Maid in Malacañang

Ella Cruz is a young actress set to star in the controversial film Maid in Malacañang, which is said to follow the last three days of the Marcoses in the Palace. Cruz will be playing the role of Irene Marcos, the second daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The film has drawn criticism from many individuals and groups alike, with worries about historical revisionism, but Senator Imee Marcos said in a press conference that they are not “revising anything” but “simply explaining.”

Ferdinand Marcos and his family were removed from power after the Filipino people marched to the streets in the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986. During his twenty-year term in Malacañang, there were over thousands of extrajudicial killings, tortures, and imprisonments, according to Amnesty International. Likewise, the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that the Marcoses have embezzled as much as 5 to 10 billion dollars (or about 275 to 500 billion pesos) worth of stolen assets from the country.

What are your thoughts on this controversial remark?